Tensions have continued to rise between the current UFC featherweight champion and his likely next challenger Max Holloway, as Topuria teases that a date has been officially set for their anticipated fight.
Since winning the 145lb strap at UFC 298 this past February, Ilia Topuria has begun his feud with former champion, Max Holloway, as the two have been going back and forth online for the past few months.
During their online spats, ‘El Matador’ has threatened to give the title shot to another featherweight contender instead, because Holloway didn’t wasn’t to put his ‘BMF’ title on the line.
Ilia Topuria teases his fight against Max Holloway is finally official
It has recently been rumored that the UFC is targeting UFC 307 on October 5 for the featherweight title fight, with the event scheduled to take place in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The last time the promotion went to The Crossroads of the West was for UFC 291 last July when Justin Gaethje scored a spectacular head kick knockout against Dustin Poirier.
Although Topuria wanted to defend his strap in Abu Dhabi at UFC 308, so that the Spanish fanbase could watch him fight in prime time, he is likely going to defend his title in the high-altitude city of Salt Lake.
The UFC fanbase also believed that the bout would take place at UFC 306 from the Sphere after the French Canadian UFC broadcast seemed to leak the information, however, this isn’t believed to be true.
“It seems that the UFC has forced him to say yes. El Matador is back. Congratulations to all UFC fans,” Topuria stated on X.
A few days prior to the 27-year-old champion’s statement, ‘Blessed’ Holloway provided an update of his own, that he is ‘patiently waiting’.
Topuria will have to revert his attention back to the ‘BMF’ champion, as he has recently been feuding with former UFC two-weight champion, Conor McGregor.
At a recent BKFC Spain press conference, McGregor claimed that he would ‘slap Topuria back to Georgia’, which amused Topuria into biting back at ‘The Notorious’.
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The featherweight division is taking shape as Volkanovski waits in the wings
Former champion, Alexander Volkanovski, recently admitted that the UFC told him that if he wanted to wait for the culmination of Topuria vs Holloway, he could fight the winner in his next fight.
Despite that, ‘The Great’ stated that he doesn’t want to wait till next year for his possible title rematch and instead, has highlighted a few lightweights he would like to fight.
Volkanovski named Charles Oliveira and Dustin Poirier as two potential opponents, as he eyes a return this year.
Outside of Volk, the 145lb division is beginning to see some new faces near the top. Movsar Evloev and Aljamain Sterling have seemingly agreed to a fight at UFC 307, potentially indicating a new title challenger.
Diego Lopes also continues to impress, with the Brazilian likely fighting Brian Ortega at UFC 306 in September.